Why Are Parents So Frustrated?

I took my daughter to a popular show during the holiday season. We stood excited in a sea of parents spending loads of money on unnecessary souvenirs just to please the kiddos. As I looked around, I noticed something sad and disturbing. One upper-crusty white dad pulled his bony blonde daughter along as she repeatedly asked to stop and purchase more items. I kid you not, her feet dragged along a few times. Behind me was a Latino father with three young boys one of which wouldn’t stop crying. In his frustration, the father yelled, “Stop Crying, Man. Damn!” Needless to say, the little boy kept on crying. When his wife came along, I could tell she kept her emotions under control but still seemed nervous. Next, I noticed a security guard asking a black mom to keep her excited daughter under more control, she lashed out at him in addition to snatching up her daughter. That’s not all I’ve seen over the last few months. Parents of all races appear to be losing it.

Perpetrators of child abuse or neglect are most often the child’s own parents. According to NCANDS, in 2005, 79.4 percent of perpetrators were parents and 6.8 percent were other relatives. The largest remaining categories of perpetrators were the unmarried partner of a child’s parent (3.8 percent) and other perpetrators (4.1 percent).

Haven’t we been led to believe that the biggest threat to a child is the unmarried partner of the child’s parent? This isn’t the only article I’ve read showing that children are more likely to be abused by their BIOLOGICAL PARENTS than by anyone else. But why? Are parents frustrated because of our society’s economic decline? Job Stress? Could it be the inability to handle the stresses of parenting especially if the child has special needs?